Bill Moyers – Organize! Honoring Howard Zinn (lecture)

Joe Hill, born in Sweden, emigrated to the United States in 1902, where he became a migrant laborer. When he was a dockworker in California, Hill joined the Industrial Workers of the World, the IWW.

He traveled widely, writing political songs, making speeches and organizing workers under the IWW banner.

In 1915, while working in a mine in Utah, he was accused of murder in a dubious case that became an international cause celebre. Just prior to his execution, he wrote to Bill Haywood, an IWW leader, saying, "Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize.”

Writer, poet and activist Grace Paley's birthday is December 11 (born in 1922, she died in 2007). In honor of Grace Paley Between the Covers presents an interview with local author Judith Arcana, who is Grace Paley's biographer, as well as parts of memorial show produced by KBOO's Circle A Radio Collective on December 5th, 2007. We’ll also hear archival recordings of Grace Paley reading her work.

Writer, poet and activist Grace Paley's birthday is December 11 (born in 1922, she died in 2007). In honor of Grace Paley Between the Covers presents a partial rebroadcast of a program produced by KBOO's Circle A Radio Collective on December 5th, 2007. The program features an interview with local author, Judith Arcana, who is Grace Paley’s biographer. We’ll also hear archival recordings of Grace Paley reading her work and talking about her life.

Host Joe Uris invites concerned NE Portland Neighborhood ActivistsSusan Prows and Steve Cole in to talk about Cell Phone Towers in Portland. Many city residents are opposed to the towers, and to the less-than-transparent methods being used to place them.

Chris Hedges - Death of the Liberal Class (lecture)

The gradual corruption and demise of the liberal class has occurred without much comment. For decades it was a modest curb against the worst excesses of power. Once the pillars of this class, the Democratic Party, the unions, and the liberal church, collapsed, the poor, the working class, and even the middle class no longer had a defender, thus creating a vacuum that is increasingly filled by opportunists and charlatans.

Clayton Morgareidge hosts this show which deals with privatization of our schools through charter schools, massive protests in Europe against government austerity measures, a tragi-comedy about terrorists, and a new book of short stories.

Largely ignored in the US press, massive protests against austerity measures -- increased tuition for students and cutbacks in social services-- have spread to virtually every European nation. In this piece, Clayton Morgareidge reviews some of the activists accounts of their protests and raises questions about why it's not happening here.

A mania for austerity is sweeping through the ruling elites of the Western World. The British Government recently announced large increases in tuition fees paid by university students and extensive cuts in education programs. In response, there have been massive student demonstrations in cities and universities all over Britain. Although the students’ actions were mostly peaceful, the police were not so kind – on some occasions resorting to “kettling” the demonstrators, that is, using cordons of police to block off all exits from a small area, effectively imprisoning people for several hours. The students were not deterred, however, and learned to evade the police blockades.

The arrest of Mohamed Osman Mohamud is raising troubling legal, political, social and moral questions. This week, Dave and Jo Ann examined the fallout of this incident and how we can move toward real - rather than politically expedient - solutions.